You may think a normal measuring cup does a good job, but while baking, Joshua Redstone realized that measuring ¼ cup of milk was tricky. He couldn’t decide whether it was better to use a small or large measuring cup; his normal 2-cup Pyrex wasn’t quite precise enough for his liking. While most people would just resign themselves to slightly-inaccurate measurements, Josh did something about it.
Josh isn’t your typical baker. He has a PhD in Computer Science and a resume that includes jobs at Google and Facebook. His natural instincts found the measuring-cup problem appealing, and he realized that it combined math and physics. He figured out that the wider a cup is, the harder it is to measure accurately. It has to do with the ratio of surface area and volume; in normal cups, the surface area shifts as the volume of liquid increases. To be more precise, you would need a measuring cup where that doesn’t happen.
Josh’s redesigned measuring cup, which he calls Euclid after the father of geometry, maintains the surface area whether you’re measuring a small amount of liquid or a large one. You can tell Euclid is different because it tapers. Take a look at this video to learn more details about the science.
It took Josh years to perfect his design. He even had to create his own software because traditional systems didn’t work with the prototypes. Once Josh had the design, he learned about the manufacturing process and how challenging it can be working on that aspect of a product. Euclid was funded through Kickstarter and is now available for pre-order on its own website. Units should start shipping out soon, probably in time for Christmas, so you can do your holiday baking with a the most accurate measuring cup ever made.